Morgan Delt ‘Phase Zero’ – ALBUM REVIEW

Morgan Delt returns with his second album after his self titled debut two years ago, reminding us of the surreal fuzzy recorded-in-a-black-hole psych pop that we glimpsed in songs such as ‘Barbarian Kings’ and the mind-blowing, ‘Obstacle Eyes’.

‘Phase Zero’ is an album that blends a mix of synthy wails, bass as hairy as a sasquatch and a floaty extra-dimensional harmonised vox that’s as much a treat for the ears as butter is for toast. It’s somewhat of a departure from the reverence of the debut continuing the theme of orally floating past plasma bursts into the centre of the sun. This time round, Delt leaves behind the heavy ket-hole of sounds of ‘Make My Grey Brain Green’, taking a Syd Barrett approach to the psychedelic.

This album from the San Franciscan definitely has a strong spine behind it and a seemingly indecipherable message much like previous releases. Despite being fluid and very easy to listen to all the way through however, it punctuates itself with the upbeat indoctrination anthem ‘Sun Powers’, which has the ability make your heart palpitate.

Suffice to say, Morgan Delt has developed in the last two years, spending just as much time enhancing the vocals of the tracks as time being spent on making the listener feel like the Mystery Man from DavidLynch’s ‘Lost Highway’. Most notably, ‘The System of 1000 Lies’ which is a galactic medley of styles from Django Django’s 2015 release ‘Born Under Saturn’ and Conan Mockasin’s 2010 album ‘Please Turn Me Into The Snat’. The other, ‘Some Sunsick Day’ is a proverbial picnic of a warped and cheerfully melancholic song, the bass of which feels like the heat of summer beating down on you as the breezy synth removes you from your body like a whisper of sleepy heat-stroke.

Even though there has been considerable change to the sound of Morgan Delt, something that has remained is the constant sound of his voice pervading the listeners mind throughout the album, giving it the same unnerving quality of the debut album, and previous cassette release.

‘Phase Zero’ is out now via Sub Pop Records

This Morgan Delt article was written by Jack Luttman, a GIGsoup contributor